Scott Carson

Stats man Scott Carson is now in his 17th season as "third man in the booth" during Blue Jays telecasts. Watch for his columns regularly on Sportsnet.ca.

John Gibbons is not Tony La Russa, which bodes well for new acquisition Scott Rolen.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons is now officially on the clock.

In the final year of his contract, some are calling him a lame duck and suggesting he will likely be fired if the Jays stumble from the gate this season.

General manager J.P. Ricciardi certainly did his manager no favours this off-season by announcing to all that he was happy with the makeup of his team, and if they could just return to health the pieces were in place to finally challenge for a return to the post-season.

It says here, though, that the man everyone around the team affectionately and respectfully calls "Gibby" is the right man at the right time to get the job done.

The weekend deal which saw the Jays acquire third baseman Scott Rolen from the St. Louis Cardinals for Troy Glaus gives Gibbons yet another challenge this season. It has been written that Rolen, a seven-time Gold Glover, has had trouble with authority during his 12-year career, first with the Phillies and then with the Cardinals. His first manager, Larry Bowa, who as a player and later as a manager was always fixing for a fight, picked one with Rolen back in 2002, greasing the skids for Rolen's departure to the Cards.

There, Rolen had to play under another "legend-in-his-own-mind" manager in Tony La Russa, who questioned Rolen's heart when he couldn't play through a left shoulder injury that ultimately led to multiple surgeries. La Russa also pushed Rolen out the door by sending him a scathing four-page letter after this past season and then bad-mouthed him at the recent winter meetings.

I'm not suggesting the temperamental Rolen wasn't part of the problem. He obviously had trouble playing for both men, but while I've never met Rolen in person, I've seen both Bowa and La Russa in action during my 15 years around the game and I have little respect for either.

As a player, Bowa had the classic "little man's syndrome" and was involved in several on-field confrontations. The same held true when he became a coach and manager in the majors, most recently with the Yankees. It was Bowa, during a couple of bench-clearing incidents at Rogers Centre this past season, that seemed more interested in fighting than making peace, which is what you would expect from a coach or manager.

As for La Russa, my disdain for him goes back to 1995 when he was the manager of the Oakland Athletics. In a game in Oakland, he ordered his pitchers to first throw at John Olerud and then at Joe Carter in retaliation for a David Cone curveball having unintentionally plunked Mark McGwire in the head. As you might expect, the benches cleared after Carter was hit and Carter, instead of rushing to the mound, turned and pointed toward La Russa, who hid behind his players and yapped away.

Playing for a managers with large egos has never sat well with Rolen, but it is something he won't have to worry about playing for Gibbons and the Blue Jays. Despite the well-documented incidents a couple of years ago involving Shea Hillenbrand and Ted Lilly, Gibbon is the prototypical players' manager and is respected by the team.

I know that in Gibbons' four years as the skipper of the Blue Jays the team has a 270-266 (.504) record with nary a sniff of the post-season. But I think that is about to change and a healthy Rolens will play a big part. He should flourish under the even hand of Gibbons and give the Jays lineup a lot of protection batting fifth behind Frank Thomas. Sure, the Jays gave up a bunch of home runs by dealing away Glaus, whose wonky knees and feet deteriorated on the artificial playing surface at the Rogers Centre. But a healthy and happy Rolen will hit for a higher average and his stellar play at the hot corner will more than justify this deal.

And if that leads the Jays back to the playoffs, hopefully John Gibbons will finally get his due.